Looks like the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol lobby group, and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, an oil lobby group, are working together to fight what they see as unfair subsidies on electric vehicles.

The problem is, even in that article... they get to the actual point - it’s not really about EVs getting unfair subsidies, it’s about the fear that they’ll displace demand for internal combustion engines. Both the corn and oil lobbies want to see the internal combustion engine be the default for the foreseeable future, because without the internal combustion engine being in nearly every car, they both stand to lose a lot of income.

Never mind that the reason for the EV subsidies is to reduce greenhouse gases (the jury’s still out on whether corn ethanol even does that) and criteria tailpipe emissions in populated areas (which ethanol doesn’t, as far as I’m aware, really help with). And, regarding the oil lobby, what about the energy independence benefits of EVs? Sure, they’re looking out for their own interests, but it’s in our best interest for our elected officials to push back against this lobbying. Sadly, I don’t see that happening with our current administration.

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And, I’m not against internal combustion being used where it’s appropriate (in many cases, the flexibility of ICE fueling helps on long distance runs), but I think there’s a lot of applications where ICE’s benefits aren’t relevant, and an EV’s drawbacks aren’t relevant. These subsidies help establish EVs and plug-in hybrids in these markets, especially by making them available to people who aren’t rich.